#7 Tennessee Tames #71 Ole Miss, 4-2, Secures Fourth Straight Victory

Friday, February 28

Oxford, Miss.

3 p.m. CT | 4 p.m.

University of Tennessee

#71 Ole Miss

#7 Tennessee Tames #71 Ole Miss, 4-2, Secures Fourth Straight Victory

February 28, 2025 | Women's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

OXFORD, Miss. – The seventh-ranked Tennessee women's tennis team conquered No. 71 Ole Miss, 4-2, on Friday evening at Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. The Lady Vols notched their sixth consecutive win against the Rebels, a streak that dates to a 4-0 home win on March 24, 2019.

"I'm really proud of our team for finding a way to win tonight's match," head coach Alison Ojeda exclaimed. "This was obviously a huge team effort, but I am very happy for Francesca Mattioli. She's been working hard and we wanted to see what she was like on court in a competitive setting. We found out that she wants to compete and is willing to figure out a way to do what's necessary. That's exciting for our team and an extra win for the night."

Tennessee (8-1, 2-0 SEC) captured a gritty doubles point, locking up a 1-0 lead against Ole Miss (7-4, 0-2 SEC), despite dropping the first match. The No.56-ranked pair of Elza Tomase could not find their rhythm against the No. 88-ranked duo of Ludmila Kareisova and Anaelle Leclrcq, falling, 1-6. Vanesa Suarez and Maeve Thornton contributed the first doubles win with a 6-2 victory against Lucie Petruzelova and Andrea Nova.

With the doubles point on the line, Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso delivered a stellar performance in the tiebreak, defeating Emily Welker and Brooklyn Olson, 7-6(5).

In singles, No. 5 Tomase doubled the Lady Vols' lead to 2-0, tallying a 6-3, 6-0 win against Emily Welker. Back-to-back singles defeats, however, then tied the match at two apiece. Thornton dropped her match to Alice Soulie, 3-6, 0-6, and No. 69 Britez Risso suffered her first loss of the season in 4-6, 3-6 fashion.

"I'm also very proud for Elza," Ojeda added. "She played a very disciplined opponent and got better as the match went on. Time to hit the road and focus on LSU."

In her singles debut, with the match tied at two, Francesca Mattioli notched a 6-4, 6-4 triumph versus Rachel Krzyzak to put the Lady Vols on top by one.

No. 110 Suarez clinched the match with a 6-4, 0-6, 6-0 victory against Andrea Nova. The junior has now sealed back-to-back matches, with the other coming against No. 67 Kentucky.

"We were ready to compete and excited to compete," Suarez added. "I love competing with this team. We love being together and will always give it everything we have. I am very excited to continue competing together."

No. 36 Aulia's match against Ludmila Kareisova went unfinished, 7-6(5), 4-6, 1-2.

Up Next: Tennessee will travel to Baton Rouge to face No. 10 LSU on Sunday. The match is slated to begin at noon ET.

Match Notables:

The win marked the 796th victory for the Tennessee women's tennis program.
Head coach Alison Ojeda now owns 151 victories during her tenure and is the third-winningest coach in program history.
Ojeda also tallied her 196th career win, moving her just four shy of 200 victories.
Tennessee collected its 33rd victory against Ole Miss, improving its all-time record to 33-21.
The Lady Vols earned the doubles point for the seventh time this season.
The Big Orange have knocked off five ranked opponents thus far, defeating No. 15 Texas Tech, No. 15 Pepperdine, No.4 Stanford, No. 67 Kentucky and No. 71 Ole Miss.
Tennessee extended its overall record to 8-1, the best start to a season since the 2020 campaign, which it began 9-1.
The doubles pairing of Leyla Britez Risso and Catherine Aulia earned their fifth straight victory of the season, remaining flawless thus far.